Born to be Sacrificed to the Alpha

Chapter 1

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"I have news for you Austin, I am no damsel in distress and you?…"

A long slender, pale finger pokes him right in the solid, chiseled chest, her perfect pink lips pressed tight in a grimace as she says through gritted teeth.

“...And you are very far from being Prince Charming. Drop your heroic act. I don't need it"

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"Enough, stop, leave her alone"

A large hand reaches out to stop yet another scrunched up piece of paper that was hurtling toward an unsuspecting head.

Rain pelts the windows of the classroom, the sky is as dark and gloomy as the atmosphere in that same room.

The teacher is absent once again, and by absent it doesn't mean that she is not around, she just happens to be indisposed.

The faint banging of the door to the supply room is the only indication of her location. Her 'less secretive than she thinks' affair with the principal, leaving the students once again without instruction. When the students are free, what is their favourite activity?

Bully the weird girl.

Outside the window, the sky is dark as the thick gray clouds cover any remnants of sunlight, the wind blows harshly, slapping tree branches against the unsuspecting building.

In the darkest corner of the classroom, that has fluorescent lighting as the only source of light on this dismal day.

The light above the girl is constantly flickering as the ballast makes its last ditch effort to keep the globe illuminated.

The girl doesn't pay attention to the things around her or the paper balls that are getting intercepted before they reach her, as her pen constantly scratches the paper in front of her as she works through the questions in her school book.

A black, excessively oversized hoodie covers the petite figure. Not in a cute or fashionable way, more in a hide her entire self sort of way, faded skinny jeans wrap the slender legs that are ripped heavily at the knees; they lead down to black lace-up military-style boots.

The hood of the sweater is pulled up and over her head, making it impossible for anyone to see her. Her face completely shadowed as her sharp eyes scan the worksheet once again. The small and delicate hand can only just be seen emerging from the large sleeve. Pale, slender fingers grip the pen and black painted finger nails are the only discerning feature.

The large hand crushes the paper balls that he just intercepted as he glares around the room with his hazel eyes. No one would dare disobey, one look is enough to send fear shooting through all the students.

His handsome face moves back to look at the girl in the hood, his defined chin covered in the faintest hint of black stubble rests back in his hand as he stares at the girl who has paper balls littered around her and is completely unaffected.

She has been at the school for a total of two months. There is rarely a transfer in this late stage of the school year, so there was an instant buzz. The buzz only intensified when an unshifted wolf arrived. They were all expecting a human, a wolf moving schools? Unheard of. Wolves stay within packs and packs all go to the same school, rarely transferring around. Imagine the surprise when everyone was excited about meeting the new girl, yet all they could ever see was a pair of sharp eyes behind a black hood.

No matter the weather, she still wears the same apparel.

One day, in a bid to get her to remove the sweater and show her appearance. They turned the heater up to an unbearable level. Within the classroom that day, clothes were getting removed at an alarming rate. Sweat was pouring by the bucket full. But still the girl in the black hood was completely unaffected.

When everyone else in the room was down to their underwear, the whole place looked like they were having some strange beach party. The girl was still clothed head to foot. Still working on her paper, not even the slightest hint that she was affected, eyes always cast down, pen always scratching at the paper.

At the start, it peaked the interest of every student, but then the rumors started. It started off rather simply, that she had a bad haircut so she was embarrassed to show herself and then it went one step further, to that she had no hair and she was bald, from there it just got progressively worse that she was terribly disfigured. Her body was all messed up, that she had some weird growth. One look is enough to scare a person to death.

Because she was a wolf transfer, it turned to rumors that her last alpha thought that she was so ugly that he cast her out of the pack, then shifted to the fact that her alpha tried to sleep with her. When she refused, he attacked her, disfiguring her completely. Then moved to the fact that she tried to ladder climb and sleep with the alpha and the Luna is the one that disfigured her.

Austin, of course, believes none of these things, because everyone is the same as him. They have not caught a glimpse, so how could they possibly know? In the age of cameras and phones, even if she took off her hood for the briefest second, someone would have managed to capture evidence.

The other reason that is hard to believe the latter rumors is the fact that she doesn’t smell like a rogue at all, she has the scent of a pack, just an unknown pack.

Every time Austin is in a class with her, he can't help but just stare at her. He cannot help but be intrigued. He is not arrogant or vain or self-conceited, but he does usually garner a certain amount of attention from the female population, yet Harlow hasn't even looked twice, not even close to twice. She has never even looked once. She hasn't even glanced in his direction and he would know because, for some reason, he cannot seem to keep his eyes off her.

The bell rings signaling the end of class and this is the only class that they don't have to change classrooms. Just the teacher changes. Mr. Peterson walks into the room and looks around. He looks at the door of the supply cupboard that is still slightly thumping, rolling his eyes and shaking his head before resuming with his lesson.

This is a school of wolves. Over half the students are wolves and a majority of the teachers are, so nothing stays a secret for long. But that sort of thing is reasonably common, so he doesn’t draw attention to the fact, or even bother with his colleagues who display a complete lack of professionalism and are just generally setting a bad example for the impressionable youths.

Mr Peterson is the mathematics teacher, he proceeds to write a large maths problem on the whiteboard.

"Does anyone want to have a go at solving this?"

His eyes search around the room and land on the only person that isn't looking at him with a vague and puzzled look.

"Harlow, would you like to have a go at solving this, even a single part of it?"

Every face in the room slowly turns to the girl as the light flickers once more, giving the familiar buzzing sound. Harlow slowly raises a set of beautiful navy blue eyes that are still heavily shadowed so no one has a chance to look upon them. She looks quickly at the board before she looks down again.

"The answer is 769.4333"

For many in the room. This is the first time they've ever heard her speak at all. Her voice is as cold and indifferent as the look she portrays.

Mr. Peterson nearly falls over. He was expecting a no or a, I don't know. Just like he would get from anyone else in the class.

But the girl who has never once raised her hand actually said the correct answer without even touching a piece of scratch paper or operating a calculator. The question was meant to be broken down into many parts and it was going to take the whole lesson to arrive at the same answer that Harlow just gave in less than a minute.

It is the most exciting thing that's ever happened in all his years of teaching.

Harlow cares little about the collective gasp that fills the room as she looks back down at her paper silently, her pen scribbles over her name once again, reinforcing the black, thick letters, the tip nearly cutting through the paper as the ink overlaps once more.

Austin is the most shocked in the whole room. This is the second time that he has heard her speak. The first was on her very first day and she was requested to do a self-introduction and the only words that came out of her mouth were ‘My name is Harlow’ there was nothing more. Not a single extra word about likes, interests or even where she originated from. Just four simple words. That is the extent of what anyone knows about her. Even her last name is unknown. She is only a first name in a large hood and nothing more.

Austin reluctantly looks away as the rest of the class resumes. Why does that cold voice call to him so much? Why does he ache to hear it again?

But it is not just the voice, she is so intelligent. It is unbelievable. Austin looks down at his desk, his calculator displaying the same number that Harlow just said.

Austin's eyes wander to Harlow once again.

The hooded head never once rises or returns his gaze.

The class ends without any more surprises. Thankfully, the noise in the supply room stops and, thankfully, the offending parties take the other exit so the students don't have to view the two and their disheveled looks.

The bell rings signaling the end of the school day. While the other students run out of the classroom quickly, Harlow takes her time, packing up before slinging her heavy bag over her shoulder and walking toward the door.

Austin stands down the hall slightly, leaning against the lockers casually.

Austin's posture is relaxed but his hazel eyes are trained on the classroom door as a group gather around him chattering away.